Ideas + Makers

Beautiful.

Symmetry from Everynone on Vimeo.

www.typography.com

Hoefler + Frere-Jones, a type foundry, has a site full of elegant faces and information. Look at The Proteus Project and Gotham as beautiful moments, but their entire list deserves a readthrough. In fact, I heard them speaking on npr -- they were speaking about Gotham, the elegant font used in the Obama campaign -- and I realized how much they care about the invisibility of their craft. They want typography to be a support system, unnoticeable because it does it's job so well to help the reader and convey info. Lovely.

Their Troubleshooting and Info Guide in ASK H+F-J is full of good info (the OpenType post, as example).

 

 
Leviathan

sketchbook from sxsw :: ideabook as art

Go here for amazing flickr capture of all 70 pages of notes. Designer Mike Rohde makes note-taking an art.
His blog shows process -- as example he designed the word cloud on the SXSW bag everyone carried -- and his wonderful sketchbook proves that we can make wonderful content from the simplest assignments.

visualizing 2008 in numbers :: wow

Good Mag and volumeone.com, you are so wonderful with your transparency, your flash, your visual poetry. This Always inspiration:

5 twitter friends who get how to be interesting

Some folks you follow on twitter for the info, some for the entertainment. I follow these because they always offer something I want to read.

1 -- @edwardboches
Come up w/ one amazing idea that makes u unforgettable. It’s hard not to hire someone if you can’t get them off your mind.
2 -- @neilhimself
Tell them something you believe, that you've learned, about how YOU see the world. Trust them & don't lie to them. Make good art.
3 -- @undermanager
Things were written: other interestings: I've been thinking about what we do for Interesting.. http://tinyurl.com/a9lt69
4 -- @tweetpostsecret
From my mailbox today: "Before I mail a bill I don't want to pay, I stick the check between my BUTT CHEEKS, then I put it in the envelope."
5 -- @presentationzen
Delivering BETTER Presentations (short post on a presentation transformation by Robin Jay) http://snipurl.com/c5a0m

amazing w+k day

Look what happens when people get inspired. Lord, these kids are good.

5 ideas on type + design

I have friends who are type fanatics, who lovingly talk about the beauty of a bowl on a B or the arc of the descender in a lowercase g. Beautiful stuff.
In looking through material that can help us think about the good things happening in typography right now, I collected these. Lots more...let me know if you have recommendations.
1 -- Steven Heller is the dean of designers, a real treasure. His quicktakes on type and design are full of insight and new ways to see. He's also the author of some gorgeous books on design.

2 -- Wow. Esquire has reinvented the magazine cover. The punch and power of a front cover with information reinvented as design is amazing stuff. Look at these:

                                

3 -- Though I don't think it a great idea to buy a Ford F150 right now unless they up the gas mileage and lower the emissions, I do admire the voice (Denis Leary) and tone, and the energy of these smart spots from Team Detroit. Good stuff, guys.

4 -- Go look at this. Henderson Bromstead Art is typgography as art...posters, logos, brand stories, social issues. even a beautiful process poster. Very nice.

5 -- HandJob is priceless. Wonderful fun hand-drawn type and ideas. Better that you don't google this one...believe me, you'll get more than you bargained for.

5 things I'm reading everyday

Besides the usual CNN, MSNBC, NYT, Adweek, russell davies and TED, I can't live without:

1 :: Newser. Wow, Newser is using short blasts of interesting news from an array of sources (BBC, Salon, The Guardian, TMZ, NYT, The Economist, People) offered with a key visual. It's easy to use and a great way to look over the news of the day quickly. Developed by Michael Wolff -- Vanity Fair writer -- and full of delicious nuggets. Besides, Drea and Brock created this  that was such a winner.

2 :: Arts + Letters Daily. What a cool way to read about everything -- literature, pop culture, politics, music -- on a site that is a huge conglomeration of great stuff. They draw from newspapers around the world, plus a variety of blogs and new books. The Chronicle of Higher Education brings this together, so it has enough gravitas to count for a few college credits if you read it daily. You can spend hours clicking through.

3 :: Romenesko. If you hang out with journalism types like I do, you need to know what makes the profesion tick. This poynter,org site is the daily blog of Jim Romenesko. It's a compilation of news stories about the industry, job postings, business insight, and matters of journalistic culture. Very cool read, one that anyone in the media world should be reviewing.

4 :: Animal is fun. How about this: "ANIMAL is a mix of underground culture, city-centric musings, and cultural epithets updated daily, providing compulsory reading for artists, writers, curators, creative peoples, (as well as editors, reporters, and brand people)." Yes.

5 :: Before & After Magazine. I love this site and all it offers. Subscribe and you can download all the articles on type, design, elegant production. Very groovy.

5 inspirations

Roaming around looking for new good stuff to show and talk about. How about these?

1 -- W+K Studio (thanks, Laura) posts this that hangs in the stairwell. I'd love to know the artist. bravo!

2 -- Always notcot.

3 -- For ideabooks:  find visual metaphors. I love 5 points. This photo spoke to me.

 4 -- We'll definitely be watching Helvetica, the movie, a journey into the culture of typography. I urge  all of you to see it and we'll discuss.

5 -- Robert Ryan's work is exceptional. He has many book covers to his credit, quite a few posters, paper and card products. What he really has is such a lyrical approach to understanding visual space. I love the playfulness and his strong use of color. You can buy his art in a link off his site. Art directors...find ways to commission this guy.